01/11/2025
V**e Duty 2026: Why We’re Standing Up for Fair, Responsible Reform
As an independent UK v**e retailer and manufacturer, Vapour Central Ltd has always supported sensible regulation — but we also believe it must be fair, evidence-based, and aligned with public-health goals. That’s why we formally responded to the government’s Va**ng Products Duty Consultation (October 2024) and submitted further evidence to HM Treasury and the Va**ng Policy Team during preparation of the Finance Bill 2025.
Our message was simple: the new v**e duty, as currently designed, risks punishing the wrong people — legitimate retailers, adult ex-smokers, and the very communities that have driven down smoking rates.
1. Fixing the Definition of “Manufacture”
The draft law classifies any mixing of ingredients — propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, flavourings or ni****ne — as “manufacture.”
That would incorrectly capture unfinished shortfills, which are not ready-to-v**e and require the customer to add ni****ne separately.
Applying duty at this early stage mislabels thousands of legitimate ni****ne-free products and creates unnecessary red tape.
We’ve urged HM Treasury to apply duty only to finished, ni****ne-containing liquids intended for immediate use — a position that protects UK producers and ensures fairness without adding pointless cost.
2. Why a Flat Rate Won’t Work
The proposed £2.20 per 10 ml flat duty ignores the reality of how v**ers actually buy and use products.
Nicotine-free shortfills and low-strength refills are consumed in larger volumes but sold on tight margins. Taxing them the same as high-strength liquids makes no sense.
We called for a tiered system, for example:
£0.50 per 10 ml on ni****ne-free liquids
£0.80-£2.20 per 10 ml on ni****ne-containing liquids
It’s still simple to enforce but far more proportionate — and avoids repeating Italy’s 70 % collapse in legal v**e sales after a similar one-size-fits-all tax.
We don't want the tax at all, but we feel its best to put our energy towards changing the Duty rather than fight what is already happening.
3. The Youth-Va**ng Paradox
Government aims to reduce under-18 va**ng — but the current duty design does the opposite.
Under this model, disposables and prefilled pods (the very products attracting younger users) will face the smallest price rise, while refillable bottles used by adult ex-smokers will more than double in cost.
That means disposables become the cheaper, more appealing choice — an own goal for public health. We’ve made it clear that a fair tax must discourage disposables, not protect them.
4. Enforcement: A System Already at Breaking Point
Trading Standards teams are already overwhelmed tackling counterfeit and illegal imports.
A blanket v**e duty without additional enforcement funding will flood the black market with untaxed products.
We warned government that this policy could mirror Italy and Eastern Europe — where over-taxation drove a surge in criminal supply chains.
Without proper resources, the new tax simply hands market share to those who don’t care about compliance or consumer safety.
5. Protecting Public-Health Progress
Initiatives like the NHS “Swap to Stop” programme recognise va**ng as a key harm-reduction tool.
Yet this flat duty undermines that progress by doubling prices on low-ni****ne or ni****ne-free liquids, pushing users back to ci******es or unsafe imports.
Here in Southend-on-Sea, one of the first UK cities on track to become smoke-free thanks to va**ng and Stop Smoking Services, responsible retailers like us have played a crucial part.
We won’t stand by and watch that success reversed.
6. Support for Duty Stamps — but Only Where It Matters
We fully back the introduction of duty stamps and traceability on finished, ni****ne-containing products.
It’s the right step for transparency.
But applying those same costs to shortfills that contain no ni****ne wastes time and money while doing nothing to tackle the real threat — counterfeit pods and illegal disposables.
7. Democracy and Industry Engagement
We also raised concerns that our public petition for a tiered duty model was wrongly rejected on the grounds that another petition sought full abolition.
Our proposal wasn’t about removing the duty — it was about making it fair.
Blocking that middle-ground view effectively silenced a large part of the legitimate UK v**e industry.
8. What We’re Asking HM Treasury to Do
Our submission requested that the government:
✅ Redefines “manufacture” to exclude unfinished base liquids.
✅ Introduces a tiered or reduced-rate model within the Finance Bill 2025.
✅ Reviews how the tax affects prefilled devices to ensure it doesn’t fuel youth va**ng.
✅ Assesses Trading Standards capacity before rollout.
✅ Engages directly with consultation respondents like Vapour Central to ensure proportional, effective policy.
Our Position: Regulation Done Right
At Vapour Central, we’re not anti-tax — we’re pro-fairness.
We believe in transparent duty, traceability, and public-health alignment. But policies must target the problem — not the solution.
We’ve stood up, put our evidence on record, and asked government to make va**ng regulation smarter, not harsher.
Because only a level playing field will protect consumers, honest retailers, and the nation’s progress toward a smoke-free future.
